Space Trek Academy

Space Trek Academy

Sponsored by the NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium

Hosted by Atlantis Educational Services

March 9-12, 2020 and March 16-19, 2020

Center for Space Education

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

The Atlantis Educational Services will be hosting two, Four- day academies called the Space Trek Academy at the Center for Space Education (CSE), Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (KSCVC). The first Academy will be held from March 9-12, 2020 and the second one from March 16-19, 2020. The Academy is sponsored wholly by the NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium. This Academy is open to all undergraduate and graduate students students enrolled in a university or college in Florida.

In this program, 16 college students will participate as one large team, with smaller technical units to successfully launch and retrieve a weather balloon, with a payload that travels up to 100,000 feet.

There is no cost to the student, except for travel to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

Students will be provided lodging for 3 nights (March 9th, March 10th and March 11th for the 1st Academy and March 16, March 17th and March 18th for the 2nd Academy).

There is no reimbursement for travel.

Lunch and dinner will be provided to every participant. Participating students will get a chance to have lunch with an astronaut and will also be given the opportunity to visit the KSC Visitor Complex, one afternoon.

After the balloon launch on March 12th and March 19th, there will be an award ceremony where every participant will be provided a certificate of completion.

Students will learn about subjects such as meteorology, telemetry and how NASA takes different variables into account to perform missions, very similar to these. They will also learn about payload integration and how to plan and efficiently carry out a weather balloon launch.

The ﬂight computer will be designed to interact with 3 PODS (portable experiment computers) that can be programmed to connect with up to 10 sensors each.

Preparation will begin with the selection of 16 students for the program. Discussions on possible experiments, hardware & program will take place before coming to CSE, with the help of Space Trek instructors through 2 Skype Sessions.

The ﬁrst session will last 90 minutes and include introduction to weather balloons, identification of the experiments, bill of materials required to design and build them.

The second session will last 60-90 minutes, and focus on methods for building the experiments, and programming the various sensors.

Over a period of 3 days, the group will aim to integrate and launch their experiments to make observations in the upper atmosphere and throughout the ﬂight of the weather balloon

Participants will work on independent teams with students assigned to different positions similar to those used by NASA, including Flight Director, Safety Ofﬁcer, Payload Integration, Launch Operations, and Meteorology. Instructors will train students to perform their tasks and then assist in operations as the students take lead. Emphasis is on communication among various teams and to follow their roles to achieve a successful launch and recovery.

Students will develop a payload to be sent on the weather balloon conducting experiments and gather results as it ascends and descends through the atmosphere.

Participants will also learn how to test equipment, use checklists, and prepare all the components for the ﬁnal launch. The main piece of hardware is the ﬂight computer, which has the capability to record variables such as humidity, pressure, temperature, velocity, and altitude.

As the balloon travels through the atmosphere, the ﬂight data will be constantly transmitted to our facility at KSCVC where students can watch a live feed on a map of the balloon ﬂight. Alongside this data students can correlate the behavior of their experiment to draw possible conclusions.

Application & Selection Process:

The Academy is open only to students enrolled in a university or college in Florida

Fill out the Space Trek Academy Form. Please remember to select the Academy dates you wish to attend (March 9-12 or March 16-19)

Selection will be based on the data ﬁlled in the form. Selected students will be notiﬁed by January 2, 2020.

Skype Sessions

First Space Trek Academy (March 9 – 12, 2019)

First Skype Session: January 14, 2019 from 11am to 12:30pm EST

Second Skype Session: Feburary 19, 2019 from 11am to 12:30pm EST

Second Space Trek Academy (March 16 – 19, 2019)

First Skype Session: January 15, 2019 from 11am to 12:30pm EST

Second Skype Session: Feburary 20, 2019 from 11am to 12:30pm EST

Selected participants will be notified on the details of arrival.

The program at KSCVC will begin on:

First Academy: March 9 at 9am

Second Academy: March 16 at 9am

Hotel accommodation will be provided for the nights of March 9th, March 10th and March 11th for the 1st Academy and March 16, March 17th and March 18th for the 2nd Academy.

Lunches will be provided on March 9th, March 10th, March 11th and March 12 for the 1st Academy and March 16, March 17th, March 18th, and MARCH 19 for the 2nd Academy; dinner will be provided on March 9th, March 10th and March 11th for the 1st Academy and March 16, March 17th and March 18th for the 2nd Academy